The U.S. and Panama: Passage; Noriega's Wife and Daughters Ask to Leave

Reuters

Published: January 8, 1990

PANAMA, Jan. 7—
The wife and daughters of Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, still in the Cuban Ambassador's house, are seeking safe passage out of the country, a Cuban Embassy official said today.

Felicidad Sieiro de Noriega, her three adult daughters, a son-in-law and a 4-month-old grandson took refuge in the Cuban Ambassador's residence after the Dec. 20 invasion by United States troops that toppled her husband's dictatorship.

''We asked the Foreign Ministry for safe conduct passes out of the country on Jan. 5, but we are still waiting for a reply,'' Cuba's Consul General in Panama, Jose Luis Mendez, said.

Possible Destinations

Mrs. Noriega had not yet made up her mind where she would go, he added, but Cuba and the Dominican Republic were possibilities.

The husband of General Noriega's daughter Sandra is from the Dominican Republic. Cuban officials said the Dominican Republic had indicated in news reports that it was prepared to grant asylum to Mrs. Noriega.

Panama's new President, Guillermo Endara, said today that his Government was pondering the issue of passage to Mrs. Noriega.

''Most probably we will make a decision very soon,'' he said when meeting Carlos Manuel Castillo, presidential candidate for the governing National Liberation Party in next month's Costa Rican elections.

Journalist Reported Detained

Vice President Guillermo Ford said he had been informed that Luis Manuel Martinez, a Cuban journalist close to Noriega, was detained today. He gave no details and a United States Army spokesman said he had no information.

General Noriega surrendered to United States officials last Wednesday and was flown to Florida to face drug trafficking charges.

The Noriega family members are among 27 people who have taken refuge in the Cuban ambassador's residence, Mr. Mendez said. The embassy is seeking safe passage out of Panama for all of them.

They include Luis Gaspar Suarez, president of the pro-Noriega Panamanian Revolutionary Party, and Luis Gomez, a former pro-Noriega legislator. A former Panamanian ambassador to Cuba, Reinaldo Rivera, is also there, embassy officials said.

Despite the application for safe passage, newspapers here quoted Mrs. Noriega today as saying she would go ''to villages in the mountains and to the poorest areas of Panama to collect cent by cent the dollars my husband needs to pay for his defense.''

She said she was concerned about the fate of her husband and did not trust United States justice, but was hoping that good would triumph over evil.